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WFCR (88.5
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
) is a
non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...
FM
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...
. It serves as the
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR) member station for
Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...
, including Springfield. The station operates at 13,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s ERP from a
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
on
Mount Lincoln Mount Lincoln may refer to one of several mountains located in the United States: {{Mountainindex, Lincoln ...
in
Pelham, Massachusetts Pelham is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,280 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is shared with Amherst. Pelham is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History P ...
, above average terrain. The
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...
holds the license. The station airs NPR news programs during the morning and afternoon drive times and in the early evening. Middays and overnights are devoted to
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
and
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
is heard during the later evening hours. WFCR's broadcasting range extends to Western and Central Massachusetts, Northern
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
(including
Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
) as well as parts of Southern
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and Southern
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. WFCR's studios for most of its history were located at Hampshire House on the UMass campus. However, in 2013, the station moved most of its operations to the Fuller Building in downtown Springfield. The station signed on May 6, 1961 as a
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
of
WGBH-FM WGBH (89.7 MHz; branded as GBH without the " W" since August 31, 2020) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of National Public Radio (NPR) and affiliate of Public Radio Exchange (PRX), which m ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. By 1962, it had severed the electronic umbilical cord with WGBH-FM, and by 1964 it had expanded its local programming to 17 hours per day. The
call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
originally represented "Four College Radio", becoming "Five College Radio" in 1966. It is a charter member of NPR, and was one of the stations that carried the initial broadcast of NPR's ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''. While UMass has held the license since 1967, when it was acquired from the
WGBH Educational Foundation The WGBH Educational Foundation (also known as GBH since August 2020) is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and ...
, WFCR has always received funding from the Five Colleges (
UMass Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
,
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
,
Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...
,
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
and
Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...
) as well as from fund drives conducted periodically over the air. Since 2011, WFCR and
sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
640 AM WNNZ have called themselves ''New England Public Radio''. WFCR claims the distinction of being the first radio station in Western Massachusetts to transmit a signal using
iBiquity iBiquity Digital Corporation is a company formed by the merger of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio. Based in Columbia, Maryland, with additional offices in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and Auburn Hills, Michigan, iBiquity is a privately ...
's
HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
system. It airs two digital streams. The first is a simulcast of the analog signal, the second is a 24-hour classical music station. On April 11, 2019, WFCR announced that it would consolidate operations with WGBH-owned
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
station
WGBY-TV WGBY-TV (channel 57) is a PBS member television station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Owned by the Boston-based WGBH Educational Foundation, it is a sister station to that organization's flagship and namesake, WGBH-TV (channel ...
(channel 57) under the
New England Public Media New England Public Media is a non-profit organization that operates the public broadcasting outlets in Western Massachusetts, including the Springfield area. It operates the region's NPR member, Amherst-licensed WFCR (New England Public Radio) ...
banner, effective in July. UMass will retain the WFCR license, and the New England Public Radio Foundation will retain the licenses to WNNZ and its satellites; NEPM will operate the stations under program service operating agreements.


Translators

In addition to the main FM station, WFCR is relayed by five translators (FM), to increase its broadcast area.


NEPR News Network

WFCR provides a full-time NPR news and information service on the ''NEPR News Network'', which consists of four radio stations in Western Massachusetts owned by its nonprofit fundraising arm, the New England Public Radio Foundation, along with two additional stations owned by area colleges. The network carries programming from NPR,
Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...
, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
. Programs include ''
Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'', ''All Things Considered'', ''
Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 6 ...
'', ''
The Takeaway ''The Takeaway'' is a morning radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Its editorial partner is WGBH-FM; at launch the BBC World Service and ''The New York Times'' were also editorial partners. In ...
'', '' Here and Now'', '' Q'' and
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
.


WNNZ

The
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
station of the NEPR News Network is WNNZ, 640
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
AM, licensed to
Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...
, which was once owned by Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
). WNNZ's power output is 50,000 watts in the daytime, the maximum permitted for AM stations by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
. But because 640 kHz is a clear channel frequency for CBN in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, WNNZ must reduce power to 1,000 watts at night. The antenna is a three-tower array, using differing directional patterns day and night. During the day, it provides at least secondary coverage to all of western Massachusetts, as well as New York's
Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...
and the Hartford area. At night, the signal is cut back to concentrate the signal northward around the Springfield and Hartford areas. Until 2010, WFCR provided WNNZ's programming, while Clear Channel sold underwriting advertisements. However, in July 2010, WFCR purchased WNNZ from Clear Channel for $525,000. The sale does not include the transmission towers, but rather has a lease clause in the sale agreement in which Clear Channel will own them and lease them to WFCR. WFCR purchased the license from Clear Channel under the name of "WFCR Foundation Inc." The FCC approved the sale August 25, 2010. Prior to 2007, the programming heard on WNNZ was heard on
WPNI WPNI (1430 AM) was an American radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve the community of Amherst, Massachusetts. Ownership In spring 2003, Pamal Broadcasting Ltd. (James Morrell, chairman/CEO) reached an ...
, 1430 kHz, in Amherst, which was owned by
Pamal Broadcasting Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio group with twenty-three stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1987 as Albany Broadcasting Company, w ...
.


WNNZ-FM (formerly WGAJ)

WFCR, again, under the licensee name of "WFCR Foundation Inc.", acquired the license of
WGAJ WGAJ (91.7 FM) was a radio station broadcasting an Album Oriented Rock format, as well as live broadcasts of sporting and cultural events of Deerfield Academy. Licensed to Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States, the station was formerly owned by ...
91.7 MHz in Deerfield, Massachusetts from
Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...
. The license transfer was granted on August 19, 2010. WFCR paid Deerfield Academy $10,000 for the signal. The call letters of the station were changed to WNNZ-FM as of September 1, 2010.


WNNI

WFCR won the allocation of 98.9 in
Adams, Massachusetts Adams is a New England town, town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was ...
, in FCC Auction #91 (under the applicant name, WFCR Foundation Inc.). WFCR won it for $189,750. WFCR filed the application for a new station with the FCC, to transmit the new signal from the top of West Summit, in
North Adams, Massachusetts North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the ...
, where the current WUPE-FM transmitter site is located. WFCR already has a translator, W266AW, located there.


WNNU

WNNU was launched in 2013; it broadcasts on 89.5 and serves the southern portion of Berkshire County and part of Columbia County in neighboring New York state.


Other stations

In addition to WNNZ-AM-FM, WNNI, and WNNU, the NEPR News Network is heard on 89.3
WAMH WAMH (89.3 FM) is a radio station occasionally broadcasting an alternative rock format. It is licensed to Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, and the station is owned by Amherst College. Programming has included independent artists, news, ...
Amherst, serving Hampshire County, and 91.9
WAIC WAIC (91.9 FM) is the college radio station of American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is operated by the Five College Consortium's National Public Radio member station, WFCR, and serves as a relay of the all-news form ...
Springfield, serving Hampden County. WAIC joined the network on July 1, 2016 after switching its programming source from
Connecticut Public Radio Connecticut Public Radio is a network of public radio stations in the state of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and eastern Long Island, affiliated with NPR (National Public Radio). It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, whi ...
. It is owned by
American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who soug ...
in Springfield, but programmed by WFCR. WAMH simulcasts WNNZ from 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. with student free form programming the other hours of the day (when Amherst College is in session).


See also

*
WAIC WAIC (91.9 FM) is the college radio station of American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is operated by the Five College Consortium's National Public Radio member station, WFCR, and serves as a relay of the all-news form ...
*
WAMH WAMH (89.3 FM) is a radio station occasionally broadcasting an alternative rock format. It is licensed to Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, and the station is owned by Amherst College. Programming has included independent artists, news, ...


References


External links

* ; Associated stations {{Authority control 1961 establishments in Massachusetts Amherst College Hampshire College Mass media in Hampshire County, Massachusetts Mass media in Springfield, Massachusetts Mount Holyoke College NPR member stations Radio stations established in 1961 FCR Smith College University of Massachusetts Amherst